This report covers:

Today we look at the accuracy of the John Wayne Lil’ Duke BB gun with scope. I will tell you right now that I read some online reviews and was thinking the gun might not be too accurate. The two reviews that are on the Pyramyd Air website don’t say much at all. Well, I’m telling you that the gun I have is quite accurate for a conventional BB gun. You just have to use the ammo it likes. Let’s get started.read more

I have been waiting for this day for a long time. The new Air Venturi Dust Devil Mark 2 is finally here! And that begs the question — what makes it a Mark 2? In recent years we have become used to companies launching new but not fully developed products, in a rush to get them to market. Then they bring out the improved Mark 2 version the following year, after all the fatal flaws have been found and fixed. Hard goods are now being treated like software releases!

Dust Devil

Well, not so, the Dust Devil. It has worked as advertised from day one. It’s a steel BB made from steel dust, so it fragments back into into dust on contact with a hard surface. I have tested it in dozens of different BB guns over the several years it has been around. Which begs the question — why is there a Mark 2?read more

Today, I’ll cover the accuracy of the TT33 Tokarev BB pistol. I spent a little more time describing this gun for you in Parts 1 and 2 because of the exceptional realism it brings to the sport. However, as a shooter, the TT33 is very deliberate. The hammer must be cocked manually for every shot.

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As I mentioned in Part 2, the sights on this pistol appear to have been specially milled lower to adjust the point of impact with BBs. Today’s report will show how well that worked.

The sights on the pistol have been milled lower than the firearm sight specifications. The point seems to be to get the BB pistol shooting to the point of aim.

BB guns are usually sighted to hit the point of aim between 15 and 25 feet. Today’s test was done by Mac at 15 feet. The pistol was aimed with a six o’clock hold in traditional target style (one-hand). He used Daisy zinc-plated BBs.

The pistol’s trigger is stiff and somewhat creepy. Mac said the trigger started to break in as he shot more, so perhaps you can expect a drop in pull weight over time.

The pistol shot exactly to the point of aim. Accuracy was acceptable.

As you can clearly see, the pistol shoots to the point of aim at 15 feet. Not many BB pistols do, so this is a happy discovery. The sights are not very adjustable, so this is a real blessing for those who shoot the gun.

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What an airgun! For those who love realism, it doesn’t get any better than this. You can own what was once a firearm and disassemble it in the same way. You get the real Russian dated and marked parts from a pistol that is now quite expensive and collectible in its firearm form.

On the other hand, this is a not an action pistol. The single-action-only operation will slow you down and make you very deliberate. You must decide if it is for you.

My advice is to act fast before anyone changes their mind about the gun coming into the U.S.

Today we’re going to look at the velocity of the TT33 BB pistol. This gun was tested by Mac McDonald, and I’m reading from his notes. Before I get to the velocity, a reminder is due. This is a single-action-only pistol. That means the hammer has to be pulled all the way back before the gun can be fired. The slide will cycle, but the gun does not have blowback. The hammer has 3 positions: all the way forward (or fired), half-cock and full-cock. The gun will fire only when the hammer is on the full-cock position. Then, the trigger needs to be pulled and the hammer will drop forward, firing one shot.

The trigger is creepy, according to Mac, and breaks at around 8 lbs. He DID note that it had improved as he shot the gun. So, it might be a little lighter than that after a break-in.

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Mac recorded a velocity of 321 to 383. The average velocity of the test gun was 352 fps. The extreme spread is 62 fps, and the average muzzle energy is 1.40 ft-lbs. Mac used Daisy zinc-plated BBs for his tests.

Because of the deliberate way this BB pistol functions, it’s not for those who want an action pistol. They would be better served by any number of less-expensive and faster-firing BB pistols. The TT33 is an extremely realistic handgun. In fact, the realism is over the top. Order it if you want to own a genuine Russian Tokarev without all the registration nonsense.

Pyramyd Air is the exclusive importer of the TT33. Because of its firearm origins, they ran a sample past BATF&E, who did not seem to have a problem with the gun. But, remember, the government can change its mind in a heartbeat. They withdrew the Junker carbines, which were made from real AK carbines, and they could decide to do the same with this pistol. Therefore, if you want one, and I mean REALLY want one, the time to act is right now.

We’ve been testing a lot of BB guns lately, and all of them have magazines that need to be loaded. Some of those magazines are like the straight stick magazine in the TT33 Tokarev pistol. They’re usually loaded one BB at a time, which can be tedious. The Umarex speedloader was designed specifically for this job.

There’s really nothing new about the speedloader because it descends almost directly from the airsoft world. But this application is for steel BBs, and that crosses the line into airguns. Mac used the speedloader in some of his tests and was very pleased with its operation. Simply connect the loader with the magazine, press down on the plunger and load 8 BBs. It’s that fast. If your mag holds 17 or 22, you’ll have it loaded in seconds.

Comes with 3 adapters to fit almost any BB gun.

Speedloader output port will connect to some BB mags without any adapter.

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Not all BB guns are made the same, so the Umarex speedloader comes with a complete package of adapters that allow it to be connected to virtually all BB guns. When Umarex USA tested it, they couldn’t find a single BB gun it wouldn’t connect to.

To refill the speedloader, flip open the door & fill with BBs.

When the speedloader is not in use, the plunger can be locked down.

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The speedloader is made mainly of synthetics and holds a large reservoir of BBs inside. It’s easy to refill by just dumping the BBs in the open loader door.

This is another piece of equipment that isn’t sexy by itself; but if you’re a BB pistol enthusiast, then you really need this speedloader.

Pyramyd Air’s 3rd annual airgun garage sale is on June 5 from 10 am to 3 pm. There will be discontinued, blemished and used guns, scopes and other accessories — plus dented tins of pellets. John Goff from Crosman will be flipping burgers, and Pyramyd Air’s technicians will be on hand to help with any questions you might have. Come early for the best selection!

Correction: There’s an error in part 3 of the 655K blog, where we state that it has blowback. It does not! We’ve corrected the blog. There was a miscommunication, as we state quite clearly in the part 1 that it the gun doesn’t have blowblack. Sorry!

The IZH Baikal MP656K, which is the BB gun version of the Tula Tokarev…commonly called the TT33 Tokarev.

I told you in part 1 that the TT33 was so unique and remarkable that it was going to take two reports just to cover the basic gun. This is the second report. First, I’d like to show you something from the firearm.

The Tokarev, which is what this is called, is a novel pistol that borrows from John Browning’s 1911 but also incorporates its own unique design. The action lifts out of the receiver as a module.

Firing mechanism lifted slightly in the frame.

Modular firing mechanism removes completely from the Tokarev.

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When they built the BB pistol, not all the Tokarev firearm parts were necessary. Since no metallic cartridges were used, the extractor and ejector were never required. With typical Russian economy, they simply left them off the gun. So, when you take your TT33 out of the box, don’t be shocked to find some parts missing from your gun.

That slot is where the firearm extractor goes. Obviously, it’s not there. It doesn’t mean your gun is incomplete. That’s the way they come.

Another area we’ll look at is the BB and CO2 magazine. It’s similar to other BB gun magazines that also contain the CO2 cartridge. But there’s one surprising difference.

The CO2 cartridge is not inserted at this time, but you see how the BBs are stacked. The follower is run all the way down and locked in place to load the magazine.read more

The IZH Baikal MP656K, which is the BB gun version of the Tula Tokarev…commonly called the TT33 Tokarev.

I always like to give you guys something to talk about over the weekend. Today’s pistol should generate a lot of conversation. Not only is it a BB pistol made on the TT33 Tokarev styling, this one is made out of a real Tokarev.

Back during the Vietnam War, I owned two of these. Each was a Norinco Chi Com variant of the Russian Tokarev. I learned then what a novel little pistol this is. It fires a .30 cal (7.62mm) bottlenecked cartridge that closely resembles the .30 cal. broomhandle Mauser round. I fount it possible to make reloads from highly reworked 5.56mm brass. But the brass swelled, and I don’t recommend it to anybody. Ammunition was impossible to come by in the 1970s, but it’s pretty common today.

This BB pistol is so remarkable, that I’m going to expand the introduction to two reports so I can show you details of the gun. Today will be a general intro.

Just like the firearm, all the controls work on the BB pistol.

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There are no compromises in this gun. It’s made from a genuine Russian Tokarev pistol. That means it’s all steel, and the black plastic grip panels have CCCP next to the Soviet star. The pistol I’m examining has a frame date of 1950.

In the past, guns made from firearms have been problematic and often removed from the market. As soon as these are in stock, buy one. Do not hesitate!

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The Tokarev firearm is a single-action pistol, and the BB pistol is also single-action. To fire the gun, you must cock the hammer each time you shoot. That may slow down you down because you can’t fire the gun by simply pulling the trigger. So, this is more of a collector’s gun than an action shooter’s gun.

The MP-656K uncocked.The MP-656K half-cocked.The MP-656K cocked.

Field-stripped, if you want.

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Just like the firearm, the TT33 field strips quite easily. In my second report, I’ll have more to say about the internal parts since some of them are novel and require an explanation.

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Several years ago, we had some Kalashnikov BB guns called Junker models 1, 2 and 3. Not only did they resemble an AK47, they were made from the same parts. The Junkers were taken off the shelves quickly and are now quite scarce in the United States. While we don’t believe the same thing will happen with this pistol, true collectors should order one right away. Like a Makarov, this is real deal!